This is one dilemma owners of Kindles, Nooks and iPads inevitably face: How the hell can I get my favorite author to sign that book I've got stored in my Ebook reader? Sure, you can always get him to scrawl his signature on the back of your Kindle in thick, ugly, black marker. If tacky's your style.

Or you could use Autography, which lets you digitally "insert" an author's salutation right into your Ebook. It works like this: At a book signing, you snap a picture of yourself with the author using an iPad camera or another external camera. The image is then transferred onto the author's iPad, which he signs with a stylus. Finally, the author taps a button on the iPad and the image flies through cyberspace to land in your email inbox, available for downloading into your Ebook (or for easy bragging on Facebook and Twitter).

It's one of the most uncomplicated solutions to an obvious problem. In fact, Autography's already been tested at multiple book signings here in the US and abroad. [Autography via NYTimes]